# XVIII explained — One of Ours

> Chapter companion for One of Ours by Willa Cather.

## What happens

After a devastating blizzard, Claude and Dan struggle to dig out the hog-house, only to find twelve hogs suffocated. Claude refuses to butcher the dead animals despite Mahailey's pleas. That evening, he reflects on the loss of individuality and pride in farming, contrasting it with his brother Ralph's wasteful materialism and his own sense of discontent and longing for something more meaningful in life.

## Themes in this chapter

### Disillusionment and Search for Meaning

Claude's deep discontent with farm life and his belief that 'there was something splendid about life, if he could but find it' highlight his search for purpose beyond material security.

### Rural vs. Urban Life

Claude contrasts the intrinsic value of farm products with the poor quality of manufactured goods, and laments the loss of individuality in farming communities due to prosperity.

### Nature and the Land

The blizzard's destructive power and the loss of the hogs underscore the harshness of nature and the farmer's vulnerability to the elements.

## Character check-ins

### Claude Wheeler

Leads the effort to rescue the hogs after the blizzard, feels humiliated by the loss, and reflects on the emptiness of farm life and money-values.

### Mahailey

Appears in her 'calamitous' costume, pleads to butcher the dead hogs, and recalls butchering a pig in Virginia.

### Mrs. Wheeler

Comes out in rubber boots and overcoat to view the disaster, worries about the financial loss, and tries to soothe Claude.

### Dan

Helps dig out the hog-house, becomes exhausted, and sits down in the hole.

### Ralph Wheeler

Mentioned in Claude's memory: wears a diamond ring won in a poker game, representing wasteful materialism.

## Key lines

> With prosperity came a kind of callousness; everybody wanted to destroy the old things they used to take pride in.

As people became wealthier, they grew indifferent and began tearing down the very things they once valued.

_Claude reflects on how economic success has led to a loss of tradition and pride in the farming community._

> He could not see the use of working for money, when money brought nothing one wanted.

Claude questioned the point of earning money if it couldn't buy the things he truly desired.

_Claude's disillusionment with the pursuit of wealth as a means to fulfillment._

> the conviction that there was something splendid about life, if he could but find it.

He held onto a belief that life held something magnificent, if only he could discover it.

_Claude's persistent hope and yearning for a more meaningful existence._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/xviii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/one_of_ours_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters